Kim Jong Il, Pickled in Pyongyang

The body of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il lies in state during his funeral at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang.

One of the questions that occupied Pyongyang watchers after the death of Kim Jong Il was: what will they do with his body?

Now we know the recently deceased dictator will be pickled and exhibited just like his father, Kim Il Sung, for eternity. Or at least while the Kim family cult endures.

On Thursday, North Korea’s state media agency said that Mr. Kim would be laid in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Il Sung is on display, and a statue erected in his honor. Meanwhile, portraits of the younger Mr. Kim and “towers to his immortality” will be built across North Korea.

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The job of embalming Mr. Kim may be taken up by specialists from Russia, possibly the same team that handled the job of preserving Kim Il Sung after he died in 1994. That process reportedly cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with similar yearly expenses for the upkeep of the body.

It’s not known where the younger Mr. Kim will be kept in the airport-sized Kumsusan palace, which was Kim Il Sung’s official residence while he was alive, although it’s a safe bet he’ll be given a less prominent spot that his father so as to keep the hierarchy intact even after death.

Kim Il Sung’s body is housed in a room near the top of the building, accessed via elevator after a lengthy journey along moving walkways and through marbled rooms in the windowless dull grey mausoleum. Midway through the trip women in traditional hanbok dresses hand out digital audio players for visitors to listen to an emotion-packed account of the grief of North Koreans on the day the Kim Il Sung died (English available).

Before visitors go into the darkened room where Kim Il Sung is on show, their shoes are buffed by brushes and high pressure fans blow across their clothes to remove dust and dirt. After viewing the body from all sides, foreign visitors are ushered into an adjoining room to view various dubious awards presented to the elder Mr. Kim from around the world, while North Koreans are led directly out of the building.

How the younger Mr. Kim is integrated into the narrative visitors are given when they visit Kumsusan won’t be clear until visitors are allowed in again. Embalming is a gruesome process that can take several months so it may be some time before he is put on display.

But in getting the preservation treatment Mr. Kim joins an exclusive club and North Korea throws yet more money at looking after the legacy of one family rather than the North Korean people.